Vehicular hoist unit



Jan. 21, 1958 w. e. MEAGHER VEHICULAR HOIST UNIT 2 Sheets-Shae FiledApril 2. 1954 INVENTOR \A/ILLIAM G.MEHGHER haw,

Jan. 21, 1958 w. G. MEAGHER VEHICULAR HOIST UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledApril 2, 1954 IIIIIIIIIIIIl INVENTOR R Y M x W U5 M United States EmaVEHICULAR HOIST UNIT William G. Meagher, Oakland, Calif.

Application April 2, 1954, Serial No. 420,609

4 Claims. (Cl. 214620) The invention relates to a vehicular hoist unitproviding a crane boom for use in the support and elevated spotpositioning of a load element.

An object of the invention is to provide a particularly effectivemounting for a vehicle-carried boom for sup porting workpieces invertically adjusted relation to the ground.

Another object is to provide a workmans staging which is mounted forheight adjustments with the boom to provide for its cooperative use witha boom-supported load.

A further object is to provide boom and staging units which are arrangedfor their removable mounting on the elevator carriages of industriallift trucks or tractors as attachments therefor.

An added object is to provide boom and staging units which :are readilyadaptable to their mounting on the lifting carriages of vehicular lifthoists of various structures.

A more specific object is to provide a boom-and-staging unit of thecharacter described which is particularly adapted for its removablemounting on the fork of an industrial truck or tractor of the fork-lifttype.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth or be apparent in thefollowing description of a typical embodiment of the invention, and inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicular hoist assembly embodying thefeatures of my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the assembly taken at the line2-2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation taken at the line 33 in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an elevation of a boom structure of the assembly taken atthe line 4-4 in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary upright section taken at the line5-5 in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation taken at the line 66 in Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a present assembly in use duringthe placement of a beam for the bolted or riveted attachment of one endthereof to an erected column of a building structure.

The present boom-and-staging units have been particularly designed formounting on a self-propelled truck or tractor T having a work-supportingelevator or lift carriage 11 mounted at the front of the vehicle. Thepresent carriage 11 is supported for its rectilinear adjustment in anupright guideway provided by a frame 12 which is mounted at and acrossthe front of the vehicle T and includes side standards 13 connected attheir tops by a cross-bar 13'. Mutually parallel fork arms 14 extendrigidly and forwardly from the bottom of the frame 12 for cooperativelysupporting articles to be raised or lowered with respect to the groundwhich supports the vehicle T. The carriage 11 may be disposed and held2,820,561 Patented Jan. 21, 1958 ice at variably adjusted heights withrespect to the ground in a suitable manner, as by chains 15 which extendfrom the carriage 11 over pulleys carried by the frame cross bar 13, andare arranged for their actuation from the vehicle engine, or othersource of power, by a suitable drive connection, not shown.

The frame 12 is hingedly supported on the vehicle T at aligned hingepins 16 connecting bottom points of its standards 13 with correspondingforward points of side frame members 17 of the vehicle chassis, andbrace links 13 extending rearwardly from corresponding intermediatepoints of the standards 13 of the frame 12 positionably connect theframe with corresponding arms 19 extending upwardly from the side framemembers 17 of the vehicle chassis. It will be understood that if angularadjustments of the frame 12 are desired, the arms 19 may be angularlyadjustable in a fore-and-aft direction under suitable control, as of adogged hand lever and a connecting link in a well understood manner.

The chassis of the vehicle T is dirigibly supported in :a usual manneron pairs of front and rear wheels 20 and 21 respectively, and its bodyprovides an operators compartment 22 between a forward part 23supporting the instrument panel and a rearward part which mounts thevehicle-operating engine within a protective hood 25. The rear disposalof the vehicle engine :and the use of weighted fenders for the rearwheels 21 are arranged to cooperatively provide the necessarycounter-balancing of the weight carried in front of the line ofengagement of the front wheels 2a with the ground. An operators seat 26is provided in the vehicle compartment 22, and the controls andindicators and steering wheel for the vehicle and hoist mechanism aredisposed within ready reach of an operator occupying the seat, chieflyon or adjacent the forward body part 23 disposed in front of the seat.

It will now be noted that the fork arms 14 are utilized for the directsupport of a work-positioning boom 31. As particularly illustrated, theboom base is provided by a pair of mutually parallel sleeve element 32spaced to simultaneously and telescopically receive the fork arms 14 fora major portion of their length, it being noted that the upper faces ofthe fork arms are fiat and mutually coplanar for their primarilyintended use to directly support load elements or load-holding palletsor containers across them. Intermediately thereof, and inwardly of theforward points of the fork arms F, the sleeves 32 provide upstandingears 33 to which the bottom of the boom 31 is hingedly attached bycoaxial hinge pins 34 for an adjusted swinging of the boom in a verticalplane including the longitudinal axis of the vehicle midway between thefork arms, the bottom of the boom being appropriately widened thereat toprovide said hinged connection.

As particularly illustrated, the boom 31 comprises an upper section 35of polygonal (square) cross-section which is complementarily engaged ina lower socket section 36 for its adjusted extension from the lattersection in accordance with the location of a securing pin 37 which isvariably engageable through and between registerable holes in thesections to secure the sections in different longitudinally adjustedrelations, it being understood that the polygonal form of the uppersection 35 desirably prevents its rotation in the lower section 36,independently of the pin 37. It will be understood that the presentsectional boom structure desirably provides for an adjustment of lengthof the boom as may be required under different working conditions.

In the present boom structure, a plate member 38 extends beneath thebottom end of the lower boom section 36 in fixed relation thereto, andterminates at pairs of spaced ears 39 which receive the hinge pins 34through and between them. Brace plates 40 connect the ends of the plates38 with side points of the lower boom section 36 slightly above theplate 38, and'brace rods 41 extend from the outer extremities of theplates 49 to fixed connections with a crown plate 42 fixed at the top ofthe boom section 36, it being noted that the aforesaid elements, whichare fixedly related to the lower boom section 36-,are mutually welded inan assembly having the outline of an upright isoscles triangle whenviewed from the front or rear. As particularly shown, ladder rungs 43are provided between a brace rod 41 and the lower boom section 36 foruse by a workman for climbing the lower boom section as may be needed.The various elements making up the present lower boom section 36 areunitarily fixed together, as by welding.

Meansare provided for securing the boom assembly in adjusted angularpositions in its plane, said means comprising a link 44 extending from ahinge joint 45 provided at the top of the boom section 36 adjacent thecrown plate 42 to a hinge connection with a member 46 which is fixedlyrelated to the lift carriage 11 and to the boommounting sleeves 32; inthe present structure, the member 46 comprises a horizontal plateelement carried at the top of mutually converging struts 47 extendingthereto from the sleeves 32, while said plate member is releasablybolted to a forwardly directed flange of an angle plate 43 fixed to anupper member 11 of the carriage 11, whereby the arrangement anchors thelower strut end to the carriage while releasably securing the sleeves 32on the fork arms 14. To desirably, provide for the angular adjustment ofthe boom with respect to the carriage and the frame 12, the link 44 hastelescopically engaged sections which are arranged to be held indifferent longitudinally adjusted relations by a bolt 49 which isvariably engageable throughmutually overlapped portions of the sections.1

'It will now be noted that a flexible hoist line 51, comprising asuitable cable or chain, extends from a terminal load hook 52 around asheave 53 at the top of the upper boom section 35,.thence around sheaves54 and 55 provided at the top and back of the frame 12 and thence to theline-carrying drum 46' of a winch assembly 56 which is mounted on theforward body part 23 of the vehicle. The winch 56 is provided as part ofthe boom assembly for the control of. the hoist line 51 to raise orlower the hook 52, or to hold the hook in fixed set position, by asuitable drive and control means. As particularly indicated in Figure 4,the actuation of the winch drum 56 is arranged to be effected through achain 57 which connects a pulley 56" of the winch assembly with a pulley58' provided on the forward end of a drive shaft 53 which is arrangedfor reversible actuation from the vehicle engine, the action of thewinch being controlled by a hand lever 59. The arrangement isessentially such that the hook 52 may be lowered for secured engagementwith an article. on the ground for thereafter raising the same to adesired height above the fork arms, and then effecting an adjustableelevating of the carriage 11 to raise the boom and load together, itbeing important to note that the carriage-mounted boom provides for thelifting of a load carried on its line 51 well above the height to whichthe carriage forks alone might lift it.

It will now be particularly noted that a truck or vehicle having a liftcarriage supporting a boom is particularly useful inthe positioning ofelements being assembled in a fabricated structure, such a use of thepresent arrange ment being illustrated in Figure 7 in which theplacement of a cable-carried beam E for its connection with aparticular' point of a building frame column C is indicated. Tofacilitate such a use of a present assembly, the same is preferablyprovided with the staging unit 61 for supporting a workman W adjacentthe point where the manual activities of the workman are required, thestaging unit extending for a required distance laterally of the plane ofaction of the boom 31, and being removably mounted on the sleeve members32 of the boom base in unitary association with the boom.

The base of the present staging 61 is provided by a pair of sleeves 62which closely and slidably receive outer end portions of the basesleeves 32 .of the boom assembly, and may be releasably secured in placeon the latter sleeves by means of set-screws 63 carried by the staging.Relatively short posts or standards 64 of like length extend fixedlyfrom forward and rear points of the base sleeves 62 of the staging,andrcooperatively support a rectangular frame 65 having its greaterlength extending across the sleeves and carrying a mesh floor 66 betweenits sides 65 and ends 65. Upright posts 67 extend from the corners ofthe frame 65, while upright posts 68 extend from the frame sides 65' atthe standard 64, said posts all being shown as of like length andcooperatively carrying a continuous guard rail 6 at their tops for theprotection of a workman W positioned on the staging floor 66, and at aheight above the floor which permits a workman to reach over it asrequired to handle an adjacent workpiece supported by the boom line 51.The elements of the described staging unit are suitably connected intheir assembly, as by welding.

It will be noted that when a workpiece has been raised clear of theground on the line 51 and generally above the staging unit 41, thesubsequent raising of the carriage to correspondingly raise the boom andstaging will shorten the portion of the cable 31 below the top boomsheave 33 to move the load upwardly away from the staging unless anduntil the cable 31 is correspondingly released at the winch 37, thisnormally being effected after the workman riding the staging ispositioned within ready reaching distance of a point at which a manualoperation is required of him; as illustrated in Figure 7, the workmanwould be disposed within reach of bolt or rivet holes in the column C atwhich an end of the beam B is to be secured by bolting or riveting.

In view of the foregoing description of the boom and staging structures,it will be understood that the mounting of these units on the elevatorcarriage of a lift truck or tractor permits a ready placement ofelements of a building or other structure being erected, and at heightsand positions not possible if the boom is not used. It will also beunderstood that in' the present novel type of vehicular hoist unit inwhich the boom is to be constantly used, the sleeves 32 of the boom basemay comprise integral or fixed parts of the elevator carriage 11 wherebythe boom and carriage and staging then provide a permanent assembly. Onthe other hand, the disclosed removability of the boom unit, with thestaging, permits a more varied use of the present type of vehicularhoist when such is desirable. Noting that the horizontal positioning ofa loaded boom hook 32 is to be entirely controlled by appropriatelydisposing the dirigible vehicle, it will be understood that a maximumstability of the entire assembly is assured by maintaining the boom inthe fixed vertical plane of its adjustability which includes thelongitudinal vehicle axis.

From the foregoingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the advantages of the present vehicular hoist unit may bereadily understood by those skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains. While I have described a form of my invention.

which I now consider to comprise a preferred embodiment thereof, Idesire to have it understood that the showings are primarilyillustrative, and that such changes 7 and developments may be made, whendesired, as fall Within the scope of the following claims.

I claimz' 1. In a vehicular hoist unit of the type described, adirigible vehicle, a load-mounting elevator carriage supported by thevehicle at an end thereof for its upright adjustment and providinghorizontally extending load sup porting fork arms, means providing aboom base telescopically receiving said arms, a boom extending upwardlyfrom said base and disposed in a fixed upright plane including thelongitudinal vehicle axis, a running hoist line supported by the boomand having a depending end thereof arranged for its fixing to a loadelement, a Winch means on the vehicle operative to mechanically controlsaid hoist line, and a workmans staging dismountably and directlysupported upon the boom base for movement therewith and disposable withthe carriage to provide for the direct manual access by a workmanthereon to a load element carried by the hoist line.

2. In a vehicular hoist unit of the type described, a dirigible vehicle,a load-mounting elevator carriage supported by the vehicle at an endthereof for its upright adjusunent with its load and providinghorizontally ex tending and mutually parallel fork arms, a boom baseproviding elements telescopically and removably receiving said fork armsto directly support the base on the fork arms, a boom extending upwardlyfrom said base for its load-supporting use in an upright plane includingthe longitudinal vehicle axis, and a workmans staging unittelescopically and removably mounted on said boom base elements for itsmovement with the carriage and providing for the direct manual access bya workman thereon to an elevated load carried by the boom.

3. A structure in accordance with claim 2 having the boom oflongitudinally adjustable length and hinged to the base member at itsbottom, and means to effect mutually independent length and angleadjustment of the boom to provide for the positioning of aboom-supported load within ready reach of the Workman disposed on thestaging unit.

4. In a vehicular hoist unit of the type described, a dirigible vehicle,a load-mounting elevator carriage sup ported by the vehicle at an endthereof for its upright adjustment with its load and providinghorizontally extending and mutually spaced and parallel fork armsextending from an upright carriage portion guidedly engaged by thevehicle, a base member providing tubular bottom elements telescopicallyreceiving said fork arms to directly support the base member thereon, aboom extending upwardly from said base member for its loadsupporting usein a fixed upright plane including the longitudinal vehicle axis, meansreleasably fixing the boom to said upright carriage portion for securingthe boom base in fixed mounted relation to the fork arms, a workmansstaging unit providing bottom elements telescopically and removablymounted on said base member elements and providing for the direct manualaccess by a Workman thereon to a load carried by the boom, and meansreleasably fixing said bottom elements or the staging unit to saidbottom elements of the base member in mutually adjusted relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

